Attend Fisheries Meetings
The Marine Fisheries Commission, or MFC, is a nine member board appointed by the Governor. The commission is responsible for managing, protecting, preserving, and enhancing the marine and estuarine resources under its jurisdiction. It does this by adopting rules and policies, implementing management measures for fisheries and advising the State on marine fisheries within the jurisdiction of regional and federal boards and councils.
The membership, appointments, terms and ethical standards for the MFC are set out in G.S. 143B-289.54. The MFC is composed of commercial and recreational fishermen, commercial fishing industry and sport fishing industry representatives, a scientist, and two “at-large” members. To see the internal operating procedures of the commission, please see the 2013 Bylaws.
In support of the MFC’s responsibilities, the Division of Marine Fisheries conducts management, enforcement, research, monitoring, statistics, and licensing programs to provide information on which to base decisions on rule making. The Department of Environmental Quality is the parent agency of the Marine Fisheries Commission and the Division of Marine Fisheries.
Meetings Overview
The MFC typically holds four business meetings a year, but may hold additional meetings if necessary. Three of the annual meetings are held in the coastal regions, with the fourth typically held in a central location. For the commission to conduct business there must be at least five of the nine members present, with at least one recreational member and one commercial member.
How to Participate
All MFC meetings are open to the public. You may attend in person, when possible, or virtually online. To provide comments for MFC consideration, you may complete the online form, submit comments by U.S. Mail or you may register to speak during the public comment period during the meeting. Each quarterly meeting typically includes a Wednesday evening public comment period and a Thursday morning public comment period prior to the start of the business session. Members of the public are encouraged to address the Commission with their concerns and are typically limited to three minutes. Please see the Meeting Materials and Details section for more information on how to participate and confirm these times by viewing the meeting agenda.
In the early 1940s, recognizing that they could accomplish far more through cooperation rather than individual effort, the Atlantic coast states came together to form the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (Commission). An Interstate Compact, ratified by the states and approved by the U.S. Congress in 1942, acknowledged the necessity of the states joining forces to manage their shared migratory fishery resources and affirmed the states’ commitment to cooperative stewardship in promoting and protecting Atlantic coastal fishery resources.
For over 80 years, the Commission has served as a deliberative body of the Atlantic coastal states, coordinating the conservation and management of 27 nearshore fish species. Each state is represented on the Commission by three Commissioners: the director of the state’s marine fisheries management agency, a state legislator, and an individual appointed by the state’s governor to represent stakeholder interests. These Commissioners participate in deliberations in the Commission’s main policy arenas: interstate fisheries management, fisheries science, habitat conservation, and law enforcement. Through these activities, the states collectively ensure the sound conservation and management of their shared coastal fishery resources and the resulting benefits to the fishing and non-fishing public.
The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils in the U.S. established by Congress in 1976 through the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to manage fisheries within U.S. federal waters.
The South Atlantic Council is responsible for the conservation and management of fishery resources in federal waters ranging from 3 to 200 miles off the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and east Florida to Key West.
Over 64 species of finfish, crustaceans, and corals are managed by the South Atlantic Council through eight fishery management plans. The South Atlantic Council works jointly with the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, New England Fishery Management Council, and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to address management needs across jurisdictional boundaries.
Contact Your Legislators
Both the public right to fish and public fisheries resources are held in trust by the state. The public trust doctrine operates according to the same basic trust principles that govern the trust relationship between financial trustees and beneficiaries. Under those principles, the state—as trustee—owes a fiduciary duty to hold public-trust resources in trust for the benefit of the trust beneficiaries, all current and future citizens of North Carolina. The state’s trustees include your elected representatives,as such, it is important they hear from you on fisheries management issues.
There are several ways to communicate with your representatives in the Legislature - by phone call or email to their office, or by attending events where they are present in the district, or requesting a meeting at their legislative office in Raleigh or while they are in the district. Please keep in mind that our legislators are expected to address a lot of issues important to our state so be respectful of their time.
The easiest, and often fastest, way of communication is by email. While there are surely exceptions, the vast majority of legislators personally monitor their legislative email inbox. Many legislators respond at least briefly to emails that are sent, at least those that come from their personal constituents.
If there is any doubt about the best way to contact a legislator, or if you don’t get notice that an email you sent was opened, call the legislator’s assistant, be sure to tell them if you are one of the legislator’s constituents, and ask what is the best way to communicate with him or her.
Be sure to indicate if you are a constituent of the legislator, up front. Like any good communication, make your point in the fewest words possible. A “me too” email on a current issue doesn’t need to be longer 100 words. A communication on a more complex subject, where you are doing more than simply voicing your opinion, should still be kept to below 500 words. If you are forwarding a “canned” email CCA has provided, PLEASE take the time to personalize it without altering the message. Thank the legislator for their service. If appropriate, invite them to respond to you about the issue.
Call his legislative assistant, tell them you are a constituent, and would like to set up a short meeting about fisheries issues. Again, there are exceptions, but the majority of legislators are open to hearing the concerns of their constituents.
- Above all, keep in mind the mission of CCA – to conserve our coastal fisheries resources. Avoid the pitfall of all fisheries issues being viewed through the prism of “user” conflict. At every opportunity, impress upon your legislator whatever you are discussing is about the conservation of a public trust resource, not how that resource gets divided among so-called “user groups.”
- You do not have to be an expert, but study the issues and ask questions of CCA leadership before any personal interaction with legislators.
- Of course, always be courteous and respectful, not just of the legislator but of our fellow citizens. The fundamental problem regarding destructive commercial fishing practices is the fact that they are allowed at all. “Blame” cannot be placed on anyone who is legally harvesting fish or shellfish.
- If you ask for a meeting, be very respectful of the legislator’s time. A 15-minute meeting needs to be 15 minutes. AND, you need to leave ample time in any meeting for the legislator to talk. We want that feedback, whether it’s in person or via email.
Finally, notify David Sneed (david@ccanc.org) of any communication with a legislator that you believe is worth CCA legislative leadership knowing about, positive or negative.
Watch WRAL’s Documentary “Net Effect”
“Net Effect” is a one-hour documentary that looks at some of the declining fish stocks in our state’s waters and some of the commercial fishing practices that recreational fishermen and conservation groups say is contributing to the problem. It also looks at the politics behind the Southern Flounder debate, the loopholes in how commercial fishing licenses are issued and the weaknesses in enforcement of existing fishing regulations.
